Socio-Economics is the study of relationship between economic activities and social life. It is a multidisciplinary components involving theories and modules from sociology and economics for human dignity among others. However, socioeconomists focuses on social impacts and political activities that affects economic changes, or causes that impact a society. The Goal to Socio/economic study is to bring about improvement on socioeconomic development environment…Give Opinion or Discuss

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Former PM Raila Odinga heads to Ethiopia for conference on Africa’s economy

Mark Osano,

As long as Raila is into people’s business, consuming public wealth and resources irregularly, illegally and unconstitutionally, being a stumbling block and opaque; obstructing peoples progressive development, he will remain a concern and a topic for discussion. It is because Kenya or EAC for that matter does not belong to Raila.

1) Why is he fighting Kidero............and who elected him to be the boss of EAC

2) Is it because of UN funds with AfDB funds that have recently been released

3) Is it that he is the master of organizing and managing the Pirates and Militia groups

4) Does he own Kenya through special interest groups

5) Is he the wheeler-dealer of corruption

6) Is it because of his unfinished business

7) Does he have a share in Pirating and Militia activities exchanges in EAC???

As long as Raila is meandering in public affairs, and shortchanging public resources or negotiating for Kenya and EAC sell-out, teaming with Kagame and Museveni; he shall remain Public Concern in the business of discussion, why he is engaging in unfinished business that is hurting peoples livelihood and survival; and until the truth shall become available what makes him tick on public matters which he has not been officially commissioned and does not have peoples backing, people will remain inquisitive until the truth is known and he shall face justice.

The law is clear and No One is above the law and all must play by the same set of rules.............

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is planning to replenish its concessional window — the African Development Fund (ADF) — by more than $9.5 billion at a meeting in October, opening up a financing stream for African countries.

AfDB East Africa regional director Gabriel Negatu said the final figure will be agreed in Tunis next month.

The last replenishment round for the period 2011-2013 was completed in October 2010 and increased the ADF by at least $9.5 billion.

The ADF provides grants and concessional loans to Africa’s low income countries.

East African governments are increasingly seeking funds to close the gaps in their budgets and to finance big infrastructure projects.

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda have all said they will be floating sovereign bonds in international markets. A sovereign bond is a debt security issued by a national government and denominated in a foreign currency.

The ongoing reconstruction of East Africa’s infrastructure and the rising number of foreign investors eyeing the mergers and acquisitions market has created fresh demand for concessional funds — opening new opportunities for big financiers like AfDB.

The African Development Bank plans to launch a pan-African infrastructure bond to raise $22 billion to finance Africa’s infrastructure development.

Unlike before, the current fundraising for the ADF also targets African countries with reserves to invest, to mitigate against lower than expected commitments from the West.

Countries with sovereign wealth funds like Angola, Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria are being urged to make commitments to the fund.

Why discussing RAILA every moment or is the name sounds sweet in the social media blogs?
Can we move on and discuss UHURUTO and the jubilee this is the rulling party ODM is not rulling,can we discuss the current launched huduma kenya services uhuru launched yesterday and many more?
I thought we are one nation one people now why keep drugging on one persons name year in year out tafathali DISCUSS UHURU AND RUTO or ICC if you feel RAILA is not the preident.

This is really getting tiring and cumbersome. Yes, we've agreed with you that "Raila is a Bad Man". Let's now MOVE ON.

Raila is no longer in public service and is not in control of any facet of government. Whatever he did or didn't do in the past is now irrelevant. Let's not waste time discussing him. We can talk about other issues but let's not mention Raila please. You're the ones still keeping him relevant by constantly bringing up his name. Talk about Kibaki for once. Raila has never been president of Kenya.

Do you think this program will succeed? What are the hurdles the program will face? Do you think Anna Waiguru has what it takes to see this program through? In what time frame do you suppose this entire computerization of government can be achieved?

This is fine given that you have nothing demonstrable to say about Mig. Rao, namely his transformational qualities that would make him a better leader for our country, qualities other than HE is a bad Man and yet the whole electorate have agreed with you thrice, namely that He is truly Not a Good leader, kind of like what Mig. Jesus told his disciples that one among you here would deny me thrice before the cock crows. Omiyo as Bi Martha Karua then Justice Minister oneced remarked in Parliament when she confronted Mig. Raila, "You can not lead by gossips" It is this habit that you and others have internalized and to come out ignorantly in defence of Mig. Raila.

Omiyo I did not come here to bury praise Caesar but to bury him, the good things that men do in their lives die with them but the evil things that men do are interred in their bones and so be with it with Mig. Caesar ( read Mark Anthony Funeral Speech), ans so be it too with Mig. Raila.

Your failure and those of your supporters is to give concrete evidence of his suitability to rule other than ethnicity. For example, it was so painful to me to read what you had to say regarding the Events of Ivory Coast that led to the removal of Mig. Igaabo or whatever. Even where Mig. Raila completed failed, you and other sycophants still counted that as a success. I was crushed. He was sent there to mediate and to prevent the civil war that was developing. Because he was unable to do so, the war went on with ECOWAS community and the French Government helping the President Elect to get rid of the pockets of resistance from the former defeated president. The rationale was to prevent the civil war and save lives and Mig. Raila left empty handed and as characteristic with his mein, blamed everybody else but him for this failure, yet for you belive he was successful in an effort that even him conceded defeat, how sycophantic can your your and his others support be? Are you morally and intellectually incapacitated to be able to see facts for what they are?

I'm more worried about people like you who can never get Raila off their minds. Raila is no longer in control of any facet of government. He's doing his own thing. Scrutinize Uhuru and Ruto; they are the ones on control now. Leave Raila alone; MOVE ON.

You keep stressing yourself over someone who is not involved in government. People may think that you're now paranoid. Has Raila offended you at a very personal level? Then tell us about it.

I no longer want to discuss anything you bring up about Raila. I'm tired of the same stale, old and boring "Raila is a Bad Man" routine.

Trying to force Mig. Raila on Kenyans even after he has been defeated thoroughly in 3 presidential elections is not only myopic but illustrates the intellectual deficits in those who support Mig. Rao. Are they able to discuss policies and to enact policies that can improve the economic lot of Kenyans or are they only obsessed with putting somebody in power at whatever cost for return favor (read sycophancy), given that no track record to help improve folks lives have been demonstrated throughout his political career?

Raila, AfDB Officials and Member Countries has some explaining to do here. But for Kenya:

1) Raila is on Shuttling Deplomacy spending Taxpayer money on his unfinished business.........It is important to know if he was commissioned by Uhuru/Ruto Government to embark on this mission.

2) To whose gains and interest or benefit did Raila have to attend this conference???

3) Who was Raila going to report to after the meeting???

4) How was Raila going to do things differently when having been in public Office with all facilities available for more than 5 years he was not able to effectively implement any successful program yet funds were made available.

5) Since this session will focus on the difficulties of translating many of the Continent’s policy proposals into reality, under whose mandate was he commissioned???

6) Although AfDB is facing economic and financial difficulties, its financial obligation was to finance African MDGs programs, which budget allocation has Raila used and for what purpose?

7) The President of AfDB is from former finance minister of Rwanda, could there have been some relationship with M23 funding, since AfDB funding never reached its intended mission???

8) It is a crime against human rights to succumb people into extreme poverty, pain and suffering and in extreme life threatening when funds were made available and security to life is threaghtened while taxpayer money is diverted to personal use and banked into foreign accounts. It will be important for public servanats to explain how public wealth and resources were diverted to individually properties ownership. It is here that transparency and acountability begin to take charge.

9) It is time for pay back and the law must demand justice equal for all

10) Constitution is the law and it is a requirement for leaders to comply and observe the law, failure to which demands people to call for referendum for justification......on

Vote of No Confidence.........

Good people,

Check this out:...........How will Kenyans justify injustices of driving people to poverty pit-hole from misappropriation of funds, conflict of interest in the irregular and unjustified sale of public land, swindling of public fund transfers with organized resource theft???

Mr. Kaberuka is a former finance minister of Rwanda. At the AfDB last meeting in Tunis sometimes in June 2012, Mr. Kaberuka said………"The time has now come to say that we will be the major contributor to our own health, that of our children... we shall be responsible for the health of our people", Mr Kaberuka was referring to Africa's decreasing dependence on foreign aid for health and added, "In sustaining Africa's economic growth, we are aware of issues of inclusiveness and inequalities. Africa's economies need healthy people. The health burden of a country is a burden on economic growth and competitiveness," he said. …… which "34 African countries have confirmed to have either oil or gas, but the Millennium Development Goals MDGs have not necessarily been the best in countries rich in natural resources", said AfDB president, Donald Kaberuka.

The AfDB’s mission is to fight poverty and improve living conditions on the continent through promoting the investment of public and private capital in projects and programs that are likely to contribute to the economic and social development of the region This has not been done since its formation. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies investing in the regional member countries (RMC).

On the ground Record shows that, MDGs funding has not been utilized for the mission, that the funds never reached its intended programs and instead Poverty, pain and sufferings, with organized pirating, offshoring, bankrupting and outsourcing of public facilities, foreign currency trafficking, proliferation or arms and extra-judicial Injustices with mushrooming of Militia Groups to cause insurgencies and terrorism were the norms and it is all the business African Leaders shuttled in diplomacy to engage. This is what continued to gain momentum in Africa and putting Human Rights, public mandate, livelihood and survival at a disadvantage.

It is time for checks and balances.It is about time Transparency and Accountability be laid down to explain how taxpayer must be put to suffer and pay uncensored or get to know how Africa’s debt keep rising to an alarming level and why and how public funds are banked in foreign accounts under politicians names. People must demand for Report on all AfDB funding to date before any other move is undertaken by politicians.

Without pressure for good governance, theft of public resource with injustices to humanity will severely impair progressive development. It is about time to call spade a spade and demand that law is observed by all for the good of all.

AfDB Mission & Objective

The overarching objective of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction.

The Bank Group achieves this obective by:

mobilizing and allocating resources for investment in RMCs; and

providing policy advice and technical assistance to support development efforts.

Former PM Raila Odinga heads to Ethiopia for conference on Africa’s economyUpdated Wednesday, November 6th 2013 at 18:10 GMT +3

By Standard Digital Reporter

NAIROBI, KENYA: Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga left Nairobi on Wednesday to attend a three day conference on Africa’s economic and governance agenda in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The conference on dubbed A Business Plan for Africa, From Vision to Execution is organized by a number of governmental and African corporate organisations including the African Development Bank (ADB) and the African Union (AU).

Mr Odinga will address a session titled Easier Said than Done: Perspectives from leaders on execution challenges and possible solutions.

The session will focus on the difficulties of translating many of the Continent’s policy proposals into reality, drawing from experience in leadership positions.

He will be in that session alongside Ms. Hadeel Ibrahim, the Founding Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Joaquim Chissano, Former President of Mozambique, Amadou Boubacar Cisse, Minister of Economy and Finance of Niger, Pedro Pires - Former President of Cape Verde and Moise Katumbi Chapwe - Governor of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Raila will return to the country on Friday to attend the home-comings of Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

AfDB to increase funding to members by $9.5bn

By STEVE MBOGO for The East African | Monday, May 27 2013 at 14:18

AfDB president Donald Kaberuka. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is planning to replenish its concessional window — the African Development Fund (ADF) — by more than $9.5 billion at a meeting in October, opening up a financing stream for African countries.

AfDB East Africa regional director Gabriel Negatu said the final figure will be agreed in Tunis next month.

The last replenishment round for the period 2011-2013 was completed in October 2010 and increased the ADF by at least $9.5 billion.

The ADF provides grants and concessional loans to Africa’s low income countries.

East African governments are increasingly seeking funds to close the gaps in their budgets and to finance big infrastructure projects.

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda have all said they will be floating sovereign bonds in international markets. A sovereign bond is a debt security issued by a national government and denominated in a foreign currency.

The ongoing reconstruction of East Africa’s infrastructure and the rising number of foreign investors eyeing the mergers and acquisitions market has created fresh demand for concessional funds — opening new opportunities for big financiers like AfDB.

The African Development Bank plans to launch a pan-African infrastructure bond to raise $22 billion to finance Africa’s infrastructure development.

Unlike before, the current fundraising for the ADF also targets African countries with reserves to invest, to mitigate against lower than expected commitments from the West.

Countries with sovereign wealth funds like Angola, Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria are being urged to make commitments to the fund.

Kenya likely to miss MDGs targets

Nairobi - The World Bank on Wednesday said that Kenya is not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 as extreme poverty has not been reduced sufficiently despite the dramatic improvements.

"Kenya is likely to miss the targets of all the MDGs as policies that have been put in place have not been implemented well," World Bank Senior Economist Vandana Chandra said during the launch of the 10th edition of the Global Monitoring Report 2013, which reports on the progress towards attainment of MDGs.

The report, which was jointly authored by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, showed that gender parity and child mortality rates in Kenya will not be achieved before 2020.

"This does not mean there is not hope for Kenya because with acceleration of efforts, the goals can be achieved," he said.

Chandra told the media in Nairobi that a lot of poor people still have no access to well-paying jobs that will lift them past the threshold of 1.25 U.S. dollar pay day.

Chandra added that the government has to enhance measures that will attract more private sector investment especially into manufacturing and services sector.

"However, the poor will not get access to decent jobs if they lack skills," she said. The senior economist said that despite Kenya's free primary education policy, the completion rates are still low.

According to the Chandra, Kenya will also not meet the three health MDGs due to insufficient health facilities.

The World Bank said that as of 2013, the Sub-Saharan African region has however achieved more than 40 percent of the progress required to reach the targets regarding access to safe water, gender parity, child mortality as well as maternal mortality.

World Bank Sustainable Development Department Sector Leader Nathan Belete said that despite Kenya's thriving energy and horticultural sectors, progress is lacking in the MDGs attainment.

"The country should take advantage of urban agglomeration of services in order to improve the life of poor residents," he said.

He also said that sub Saharan Africa as a region will miss all nine MDGS by a significant margin, adding the MDGs relating to extreme poverty and access to sanitation are lagging the most.

According to the report, like other emerging economies, Kenya is experiencing a major demographic transition and also urbanizing rapidly.

World Bank Country Director for Kenya Diarietou Gaye said Kenya's population is growing each year by 1 million people, who are living longer due to improvements in health, are also better educated and mostly choose to live in cities.

"By 2030, we estimate that Kenya will have a population of 63 million people. Half of these people will be living in the cities, with the Nairobi metropolitan area hosting more than a quarter of these urban dwellers," Gaye said.

The country director added that this urbanization will induce demand for goods and services that are produced in rural areas.

"We hope this will help uplift rural families out of poverty due to increased incomes," she said.

Africa: 14 Million To Go Without Water By 2015 – AfDB Report

AN African Development Bank report projects that 14 million Kenyans will still be without improved water sources by 2015, which is way below the set Millennium Development Goals target.

The report titled, ‘Development Aid and Access to Water and Sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa’ says the figure is 6 percent more than the projected figure of 11.5 million in the MDGs.

The banks cautions it will be difficult for the country to meet MDG target on water and sanitation since by the same year Kenya is projected to have 26.6 million people without proper sanitation which stands at 12 million more than MDGs target “By this figures it will be difficult for Kenya to meet its MDGs target by 2015,” the bank says.

The book blames Kenya’s low improvement of water and sanitation on the country’s rapid population growth especially in urban areas and an increase of un-hygienic practices like open toilets with 52 per cent and 32 per cent for urban and rural areas respectively accessing safe water and sanitation.

“Generally, coverage of both water and sanitation is highly variable across the country like in Western Kenya only 13.5 per cent residents in Bondo district have access to safe water while 15 per cent of Wajir residents can access any form of sanitation,” the book says. The book which has developed the study in other Sub-Saharan African countries of Burkina Faso, Madagascar and Uganda sets to “compare country performance in the water and sanitation sector and to analyze how effectively the associated development aid was used.”

“Kenya with only 15% of fresh water resources exploited has a huge investment potential from both the government and development partners,” the report says. In a research carried out between 2000-2008 funding on water and sanitation grow from Sh7.6-36.8 billion with the government providing 70% funding and the rest being picked by development partners. Over the period “The AfDB ranked seventh among the donors, providing a cumulative amount of Sh1.5bilion.” Other top donors included Germany, Sweden, France and Denmark.

Source Article from http://allafrica.com/stories/201209110086.html
Africa: 14 Million To Go Without Water By 2015 – AfDB Report
http://allafrica.com/stories/201209110086.html
http://allafrica.com/tools/headlines/rdf/water/headlines.rdf
AllAfrica News: Water and Sanitation
All Africa, All the Time.
http://allafrica.com/static/images/structure/aa-logo.png

Turkana power project - The Board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the Lake Turkana Transmission Line Delay Partial Risk Guarantee for 20 million ...

Kenya: AfDB guarantees funding for Turkana power project

Turkana power project - The Board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the Lake Turkana Transmission Line Delay Partial Risk Guarantee for 20 million euros, the first in the series of the African Development Fund’s Partial Risk Guarantees (ADF PRG).

The ADF PRG is a risk-mitigation instrument that covers private lenders and investors against the risk of a possible government failure to meet contractual obligations to a project.

In a statement, the AfDB said 'This flagship ADF PRG will support the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in Kenya, Africa’s biggest wind power project, which involves the development of a 300 MW wind farm comprising 365 wind turbines of 850kW capacity each and a 33kV electrical network.

According to the statement, received here Thursday by PANA, the average electricity production of the project is estimated at 1,440 GWh per year, equivalent to the annual generation capacity of Namibia in 2010, and it will be sold to the grid at a price of .0752 euro per Kwh.

Under the wind project, the Lake Turkana Transmission Line Delay PRG will be used to alleviate the risk for the construction of a 428-kilometre publicly-owned transmission line between Loyangalani and Suswa and associated substations needed to connect the project to the national grid.

The PRG will support the Kenyan Government’s on-time delivery of the transmission line and will reduce the risk of it being unable to meet payment obligations.

More specifically, the ADF PRG will provide partial risk mitigation to Lake Turkana Wind Power Limited and the providers of debt financing to the project for risks associated with construction delays.

The objective of the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project is to provide clean, reliable, low-cost power and to strengthen Kenya’s national grid by increasing national installed power by approximately 17%.

The transmission line will also include a fibre-optic cable that will carry communications data.

Over the long term, the project will help reduce the cost of energy to end-users, increase access to energy in rural areas, increase the national electrification rate, reduce CO2 emissions, and decrease fossil fuel dependence. There is growing demand for electricity in Kenya.

In the context of the importance of low-cost generation capacity additions and regional power interconnections for supply security, particularly during periods of severe drought, the Kenyan Government has traditionally relied upon providers of emergency generation capacity, which has the advantage of a rapid installation time, but is very expensive and load shedding frequently occurs.

The AfDB Group provided a 115-million-euro loan to the Lake Turkana project and has led its development since 2009.

Speaking after the Board meeting, Kurt Lonsway, Acting Director of the AfDB’s Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department, said, “This ADF PRG will promote foreign direct investment in Kenya and crowd in private financing for power generation. Also, by reducing the risk profile for the sponsors of and lenders to the Lake Turkana project, the PRG will accelerate financial closure and reduce the overall cost of capital to the project.”

Since 2004, the AfDB has made PRGs available to catalyze private investment in middle-income countries. With the introduction of the ADF PRG in 2011, the instrument was made available to ADF low-income countries.

The AfDB’s Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department established in 2012, a multi-skilled task force comprising of the Treasury, Legal and Energy, Environment and Climate Change (ONEC) departments to deploy the PRG product and is leading the Bank’s work on the use of PRGs in terms of originating projects and reaching out to co-guarantors.

The power sectors of various East African countries, as well as Southern and West African countries, will also benefit from PRGs in the near future.

Pana 04/10/2013

AfDB Approves US $348 Million in Funding for Kenya-Ethiopia Electricity Highway

The Board of the African Development Fund approved on Thursday, September 20, US $348 million in funding for a US $1.26-billion electricity highway project between Kenya and Ethiopia.

Due for commissioning in November 2017, the project involves the construction of a 1,068-kilometre high-voltage direct current 500 kV transmission line between the two countries. It also includes putting up of associated converter stations at Wolayta-Sodo (Ethiopia) and Suswa (Kenya), with a power transfer capacity of up to 2,000 MW.

The project is intended to promote power trade and regional integration, contribute to the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) countries’ social and economic development, and reduce poverty in those countries.

“With the approval of this project, we have solidified our position as the key strategic partner for East African countries in the power sector,” said Gabriel Negatu, AfDB’s Regional Director in charge of East Africa. “Our involvement in the project has included a leading role in the preparation of the project and financing some of the feasibility studies required to appraise the project and make it bankable. We have mobilized funds from other development partners in a timely and efficient manner. The project is also perfectly aligned with the climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy of the Bank, as it has the potential to replace some fossil-fuelled thermal generation in the East African region.”

The project has been co-financed with the World Bank, the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Governments of Kenya and Ethiopia. This key inter-country power link comes at a time when demand for electricity in the East African region has steadily risen relative to supply, leading to occasional severe power shortages. To alleviate this situation, East African countries have had to resort to exorbitantly expensive power from emergency generators. However, the region is blessed with a great variety of natural resources, in particular hydropower, mainly concentrated in Ethiopia.

The integration of the power systems of the EAPP will enable the development of Ethiopia’s large hydropower resources for the export market and address power shortages throughout the region. The project will position Ethiopia as the main powerhouse and Kenya as the main hub for power trade in the East African region. However, it is anticipated that power will flow in both directions: from Ethiopia to East African countries all the way to the Southern African Power Pool in the short term, and/or from the Eastern and Southern power pools to Egypt and Sudan in the long run.

In Kenya alone, the additional power injected into the national grid will enable the supply of electricity to an additional 870,000 households by 2018, and a cumulative total of 1.4 million additional households by 2022, of which 18 per cent will be located in rural areas. Businesses and industries will also benefit, with around 3,100 GWh of additional energy by 2018, increasing to around 5,100 GWh by 2022.

“The East African region is blessed with abundant energy resources which have remained untapped for some time, in particular hydropower and geothermal. With the implementation of this flagship project, which is meant to be an anchor link in establishing the backbone of the EAPP, energy resources can be pooled at the regional level to create a regional electricity market through power trading,” said Thierno Bah, AfDB’s Senior Power Engineer.

“Power trading will ensure enhanced power security for the EAPP countries and result in cost savings for the electricity companies and ultimately lower tariffs for end users. The two electricity companies, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) in Ethiopia and Kenya Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd. (KETRACO) in Kenya, will also benefit from additional revenues from carbon credits with the innovative Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodology developed by the Bank and recently approved by the CDM methodology panel,” he added.

Michelle Obama Photo at Whitehouse

About Me

As Project Director for Confederation Council Foundation for Africa inc.,I Aim to provide platform open doors for development towards the emerging entrepreneurship agenda among New American Migrants. We provide sustainable settlement towards self-sufficiency. The Foundation under my leadership intends to fulfil Immigration Settlement Program and the Millenium Development Goals Strategic Plan of Action. Our Mission is to Network for start-up business, job creation for talented and skilled individuals, Business Investments Locally and Abroad. We involve simple Economic and Educational Networking and empowerment - partnering with Federal Government, the Civic Societies, Faith Based and Non-Profit project under One-Stop-Service plan. The purpose is to encourage more Women and Youth who are the engine of CHANGE towards achieving sustainable policy enactment & Socio/Economic DEMANDs in order to curtail growing influx of African migration which will eventually reduce unwarranted relocation and suffering of many people.